Need and fear
by Skovko
Summary: Seth hadn't noticed he was being followed. In a split second his entire world is turned upside down when he's kidnapped and tortured by a crazy man and some woman that blame him for Dean leaving WWE. To them he's the devil. Help comes from an unknown front, but nothing in life is free. There are consequences to every choice in life.


Seth stared at the cappuccino brunette with the deep dark brown eyes as she walked slowly next to the cage, running her fingers on the bars along the way. He couldn't believe what he had just heard her say.

"I'm the one that you need and fear," she stopped and smirked. "You need me to get out of here but you fear I'm not being truthful."

**DAY 1**

It all happened so fast. Seth had left the arena and spent an hour on the road. It was past midnight when he pulled up to the next hotel. He was tired and he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. There had been a lot of cars on the road. He didn't know one of them had followed him.

He opened the trunk to get his bag out. A sharp pain followed seconds later. It wasn't until much later he would learn it was a man slamming the trunk lid down on his head and knocking him out.

**DAY 2**

Seth was beyond confused. There was a man and a woman in the building with him. They were keeping him captured in a cage. It looked like the age difference between them was big enough for them to be father and daughter. They looked nothing alike though, and the way they looked at each other didn't exactly give him family vibes.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Seth said.

The man who had introduced himself as Bernie didn't look like he was kidding. He was serious. He blamed Seth for Dean leaving WWE.

"He wasn't happy!" Seth spat. "He left to become Moxley again. Nothing I could do about it. Kidnapping me won't bring him back."  
"It's not about bringing him back," Bernie smirked. "It's about punishing you for your actions."

Seth stared at the woman. He would guess she was in her mid or late 20's.

"Fucking help me!" He pleaded.  
"Do not try me, devil," she said.  
"I'm the fucking devil now?" Seth laughed mockingly. "Look in the fucking mirror, little girl! I'm not the one who kidnapped someone."

**DAY 3**

She was there again. The woman. She was dancing in his room to music she could only hear inside her head. Seth was watching her, waiting for her to start speaking. When she didn't, he chose to speak up.

"I'll pay you if let me out of here," he said.  
"You can't buy me, devil," she said.  
"Seth," he gave her a pleading look. "Please, my name is Seth. Don't call me devil. Don't dehumanize me. I'm still a human being."

She tilted her head and looked at him. He wasn't sure if he had reached something inside her. He had to try though.

"And so are you. You're a human being," he said.

He moved up to the bars, grabbed two of them and leaned in to be as close to the bars as possible. She moved close too, looking at him curiously.

"What's your name?" He asked.

She poked his nose. He moved back in fear by her weird reaction.

"You're so cute," she giggled.  
"I got a family and friends. I'm famous. People will look for me," he said.  
"They already are," she said. "You're all over the news, devil. They won't find you though. Not as long as you're in here."

**DAY 4**

"Please, stop!" Seth screamed.

It didn't matter how much he screamed or how much he begged. Bernie kept beating him up with a knuckle buster. Seth had tried to fight back, but the metal dazed him and hurt him. It made him weak. He was curled up in a corner of his cell as the punches kept raining down on him.

"You took everything from me!" Bernie screamed. "Everything!"  
"I'm sorry!" Seth cried.

**DAY 5**

This was torture for Seth. Water torture. He sat in the same corner as yesterday, trying to cover his face with his hands everytime Bernie threw a bucket of ice cold water through the bars.

"Please!" Seth begged.

His teeth was clattering and he was shivering from the cold. He supposed it could have been worse. It could have been boiling water that would hurt and scar him for life. The ice water could only make him sick. It crossed his mind that he might die in there on the cold floor from a fucking cold or flu caused by ice water.

"Repent your sins," Bernie said.  
"What do you want me to say?" Seth asked. "I've already told you I'm sorry. What else do you want me to fucking say?"  
"Tell me I'm pretty," the woman spoke.  
"What?" Seth looked at her.  
"Tell me I'm fucking pretty, devil!" She screamed. "Tell me! Tell me, god damn it!"

She was kicking the bars in a rage. Bernie stood there watching her as if this was normal behavior.

"You're pretty!" Seth yelled.

She stopped what she was doing and stared at him for a long time before finally breaking out in a smile.

"Thank you," she said.

**DAY 6**

"Do you wanna fuck her?" Bernie asked.  
"Who?" Seth asked.  
"How many girls are there around here?" Bernie chuckled. "Do you wanna fuck my girl?"  
"No," Seth said.

She was dancing around herself again. Seth wasn't sure if she was paying attention to this weird conversation or not. She played with a strand of her hair and looked at Bernie.

"He thinks I'm pretty," she said.  
"He only said that to save his own skin," Bernie said.  
"No, no!" Seth quickly said. "You're really pretty. Like super fucking pretty."

He had to try. If she believed him, maybe there was a chance. And he wasn't exactly lying. Out in the real world he would have seen her as pretty. Not the type of person he would go for, but still pretty.

"There was a time you called me pretty," she looked at Bernie.  
"You used to be," Bernie said. "You're getting old. Maybe we need to bring in a younger one. You can shape her in your image."  
"Whatever you say," she grinned.

She waved at Seth before turning to walk out of the room.

"Bye, devil," she said.  
"Don't leave me," Seth begged. "Don't leave me alone with him."  
"Don't worry, traitor," Bernie smirked. "I'll leave too. As a matter of fact, you won't see me all day. No food and water for you today."

**DAY 7**

The woman had entered alone. Seth stood watching her. She was watching him back through the bars.

"I used to be like you," she said.  
"A wrestler?" He asked.  
"No," she said. "Inside that cage. Being broken by Bernie."  
"What?" Seth couldn't believe it. "He kidnapped you too?"  
"Eventually I learned to play along. It's not bad in here," she said.

He took a step closer to the bars. There was still a fair distance between them. He hadn't walked all the way up to the bars since the day she poked his nose.

"I can get you out of here," she said.  
"I don't believe you," he said. "I'm sure you can but you won't. You're just messing with me again."  
"Do you wanna get out of here, Seth?" She asked. "Say the word and I'll let you out."

He stared at the cappuccino brunette with the deep dark brown eyes as she walked slowly next to the cage, running her fingers on the bars along the way. He couldn't believe what he had just heard her say.

"I'm the one that you need and fear," she stopped and smirked. "You need me to get out of here but you fear I'm not being truthful."  
"You called me Seth," he said.  
"Last chance," she said.  
"Yes," he whispered. "I wanna get out of here."

She unlocked the cage, opened the door and held out her hand.

"Let's go then," she said.

He wasn't sure if it was another trick but he had to try. He followed her out of the room. She walked him through the building. When she opened a door, he found freedom. A lot of trees and plants as if they were inside a forest somewhere.

"Follow the trail and you'll be out in around an hour. If you hear a car, hide. That's Bernie coming back," she said.

He looked at her surprised. She was actually gonna let him go just like that.

"What about you?" He asked.  
"I've lived in here for many years. I got nothing for me waiting out there," she said. "Not like you. You got friends and family. You got people that love you."

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and ran his fingers down her cheek in a caressing move. She actually blushed by the simple touch. She lifted up her arm between them.

"Pick one," she said.

She wore a lot of homemade braided bracelets. She had a talent for it. He pointed at a dark purple one. She untied it and put it around his wrist instead.

"So you'll remember me," she said.

As if he could ever forget what she had been part of doing to him in there, but in that moment he saw another woman in front of him. Someone kind. Someone he would actually like to sit down and talk with.

"Come with me," he said.  
"And go where?" She asked.  
"I..." He sighed. "I don't know."  
"I found my place in here. I belong here. The shit I've done, Seth. Fuck! I've hurt a lot of people, and I loved it. I'm ashamed of who I am but I can't go back and change it," she said. "I deserve my fate."

He stepped outside and took a deep breath. The air felt heavenly.

"What's your name?" He asked.

He turned around but was met by the door closing in his face. She had released him. He was on his own now. He needed to get back to civilization before Bernie came back and noticed Seth was gone.

**DAY 8**

Seth was on his mother's couch. He had spent all day yesterday since his escape at the hospital first and then the police station later. He had walked away with all his bones intact. He had bruises and cuts that would eventually heal. He wasn't sure about the damage on his soul though.

He had shown the police where he had come out through the forest. He had told them about the building he had walked away from. He had told them everything he could remember from his week in there. They had stormed the building and found nothing. Bernie and the unnamed woman had hours head start.

"Cookies?" His mother put down a plate.  
"Hazelnut and chocolate?" He asked.  
"Of course," she patted his head. "A mother knows her son's favorite cookies."  
"I love you, mom," he chuckled.

He grabbed a cookie and the remote. He had been watching some sports channel but tennis was on and it wasn't interesting enough. He zapped and stopped at a news channel. There was a story about the body of a woman being found down by the lake in the same forest he had been walking through the day before.

_"Police has no clue who the woman is. She has dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a light blue dress and nine homemade braided bracelets. She was beaten badly by an unknown object."_

Seth held his breath. They showed a photo of the arm with the bracelets. That was all they had been allowed to see. He recognized it right away. He had already known before seeing that picture that they were talking about her. He was sure the unknown object was the knuckle buster that he had felt on his own body. He lifted his arm and stared at the dark purple bracelet.

"I deserve my fate," he repeated her last words from the day before. "You knew he would do this to you, didn't you? You knew, and you still chose to let me go."

He stared at the screen again but he was no longer hearing what was being said. She had sacrificed herself to save him. He knew he had to call the police and tell them this was the woman. He would tell them all over again everything she had said and done. There was only one detail he couldn't give them, and apparently they couldn't give him that either from what he had just heard on tv. Her name. She would forever remain a Jane Doe, and somewhere out there Bernie was still running free.


End file.
